We are fortunate enough to be joined for morning coffee tomorrow, Monday, by my colleague Kim Scheppele at Princeton. We heard from her last year as part of our Autocracy and Democracy series. It’s particularly timely for us to visit with her again, with Hungary’s elections and the fate of strongman Viktor Orbán’s “illiberal democracy” less than a week away.
Kim’s scholarship focuses on the rise and fall of constitutional government, and Hungary is one of the countries in which she has special expertise. About two weeks ago, the Hungarian opposition began preparing for the possibility of a false flag operation ahead of the election, something along the lines of concerns in the U.S. that Trump might stage an event and use it to seize tighter control of the country in advance of the midterm elections. The concern in Hungary is that Orbán might use an “emergency” to alter the outcome of the election or even cancel an election that might be slipping away from him. In 2022, his Fidesz Party took 54.1% of the vote and control of the National Assembly. In advance of the upcoming April 12 election, it’s polling more weakly, with a recent “poll of all polls” showing it at less than 40%.
Over the weekend, there were concerns that Orbán had found his issue, with reports of alleged terrorist-type activity in Serbia (which is strongly aligned with his government). Kim joins us Monday at 9:00 am ET, to help us understand the dynamics behind the election and what it might portend for the U.S.
Mark your calendar now to join us. If you’re subscribed to Civil Discourse, you’ll get a notice when we go live.
We’re in this together,
Joyce
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